Update On A Frequent Question...

...No, I haven't heard from any schools yet about graduate school next year. 5 of 6 applications are submitted and the last one should be done by the end of the week. Thanks for asking.

Whew!

Finals are finished. Mine were all done Tuesday of last week (the 11th). It's such a relief to have them completed. Now I've got a few weeks to relax, straighten the house, wrap gifts, bake, finish preparing for choir concerts, laundry, file away notes and books, prepare my primary lessons, buy books, deliver gifts, visit teach, work, apply to grad schools, and anything else that might come up I want/need to do; not so sure I'll get much relaxing done after all...my list keeps growing. Regardless, the break is nice.

Having this different schedule causes me to wonder how I accomplished anything when I worked full-time. It feels like a treat to not have to come home each night with a list of stuff to do and still have studying to get done too. Luckily, some of the things can be done while I'm at home for Christmas and/or when I get back. Then there are the aspects of being a student again that feel like perks...Christmas, summer, fall and spring breaks, free UTA pass, student discounts...looking for that silver lining.

Having fun or not...

...time sure does fly! I attended my 20th High School reunion Saturday night (Oct. 6th). It was fun to see everyone again. Surprisingly, most of those attending were still recognizable after all the years. Several said the same about me. We did a "class picture" and when one of the guys joined the group, I called his name and turned around to say "Hi." Later in the evening when I was talking with him, he said that I didn't need to even say anything, he knew exactly who I was once I turned and faced him; that I hadn't changed one bit since high school. I suppose that's a compliment but I'd like to think that I've done some changing (hopefully for the better) since high school graduation.

Several had their cameras going off taking pictures of everyone. Luckily, with the modern convenience of email and digital pictures, those are already being shared with everyone. I need to email a couple people to be sure and get their copies of pictures since my camera stayed in my purse most of the night. Thank heavens for the spouses of my former classmates, they did a great job catching still images of the whole evening's festivities.

I was really surprised how many people have stayed within our small suburb, or a neighboring one, and of that group, how many did not attend the reunion. I realize that most of us have had no contact with each other for 20 years, myself included, but I made the effort to come 1500 miles for the evening, couldn't they come the 5-10 miles from their homes???? That's ok, the few of us who came had a good time. Don't know if I'll attend any others in the future but after making my appearance at this one, I know better what to expect and can make a more accurate decision.

Though the people won't mean much to you, here are a few pictures of those in attendance....(mind you, I didn't attend a high school with any other active LDS members in my graduating class....)

Pict. 1: Donny Fisher, Justin Koehler & Jack Losic

Pict 2: Me, Neil Buchelt, Todd Hanssen, Moonish Patel (Moonish's wife)

Pict 3: Jason Konder, Katy Quinlan, Karen Reese, Byron Wright, Tomi Taggart & RC McLaurin

Pict 4: Kent Walker, Dan Winz, RC McLaurin, Tom Kellen

Pict 5: Tomi Taggart & Sally Pelzer

All good things must come to an end...

Why is that? Why can't we just stay in summer and no school or work forever??? Oh, yeah, food, shelter, clothing...bummer...Before school started back up I took a little time off to relax and enjoy the summer activities and weather. So here's my "What I did over the Summer" summary....

• Touring all 33 houses on the Salt Lake Parade of Homes in 3 days. (I'll be sharing some of the ideas I gathered in a future post.)
Straightening up my bedroom and rearranging furniture.

• Completing my GRE prep course and the exam. Listening to others in my classes worry and prepare for the exam, I'm really glad to have it over with.
• Three trips to Salt Lake's Hogle Zoo.
• Dinner with Kara during her 1½ day visit to SLC from Tokyo. (Kara, please be sure to send me copies of the pictures you took while we were together. Can't wait to see you again for Christmas, hopefully.)
• Several family outings: Bear Lake for a family reunion with Nathan, Shayla's 4th Birthday party, Midway with Mom & Dad, Kelley's family cabin with the UT group + Mom & Dad, picnic in Bountiful while Ann, Tyler & Lucy where here, babysitting Shayla and Cambree...

• Activity Day Outing with the 8-11 year-old girls from church.
• A couple temp jobs.
• Getting my schedule all worked out for the fall; Anatomy of Speech and Hearing, Language Science, Pediatric Speech Pathology, Voice Lessons, and Aural Habilitation/Rehabilitation.
• Meeting some new guys at various singles activities, meeting new men isn't a regular occurrence so definitely worth recording. No announcements (several of them have already disappeared) just being honest about the summer.
• Setting up a part-time job that works well with my schedule.
• Meeting with my academic advisor, 2 full semesters and 1 on-line class next summer, then I'm all finished with the prerequisites!

Now it's back to school and work...After this full, relaxing and enjoyable summer, I'm really thinking that a job within a school is a great way to go after I'm done with my master's program. Vacations in the rest of the business world don't come often enough or long enough.

Ugh...more computer issues, had this all ready to go and then, somehow, I deleted it ALL, pictures, text, everything! Then there's all the spacing issues with my post...Sometimes computers can be such a pain....

Quick note before bed

Where has the time gone? I don't think I realized just how long it's been since I last posted to my blog until I saw Jennie's comment asking where I was. Then I double checked my last posting date and realized a whole month has gone by. Sorry about that, I've been faithfully checking your blogs and posting there occasionally too, just not felt like I had tons to add to mine. I promise I'm still alive, So, before I lay me down to sleep, I'll post to my blog so my friends will keep....lame I know.

School started back up for the fall 2 weeks ago and I'm busy with classes and homework. I have a temp job in the morning, as of last Wednesday, and an offer for a permanent part-time job as well, as of Friday afternoon. The temp job assignment is 1-2 months but it is M-F 20 hours/week which I'm doing in the mornings. The other job I can make about the same money but working 5 less hours a week & 2 less days giving me 2 mornings to stay on campus and study. The permanent part time position is probably the best since I need to keep school my highest priority to be able to meet my GPA goal. Having those 2 mornings to study would be key for me so that I can have a little bit of a life after school's over in the evenings and feel like my whole world isn't so upside down. I won't know how quick I can get out of the temp job until Tuesday so wish me luck that they'll let me out sooner rather than later since I have some tests in the next couple weeks that I'm no where near ready for...

I'm going to end it here so I can go get some sleep in preparation for several hours of studying tomorrow....I know you all wish it could be you instead of me....I wish it could be you instead of me too....I have started a more detailed update I'll get posted with pictures soon, had some issues with the pictures when I tried before. Thanks for keeping up on me, Jennie, and thanks for keeping your blogs more updated than mine, it's been fun to see the pictures and know how all of you are doing. It's a perfect break from the studies. Have a super Labor Day weekend!

Yippeeeee!

I found out today that my on-line class final is NOT comprehensive!!! Talk about a relief. Less stuff to make sure is crammed into my brain by Saturday when I'm scheduled to take the exam. Here's hoping I do at least as well as I did on the mid-term (which was great in my opinion!).

Now I've gone and done it!

I just finished filling out the application (and paying my application fee) to attend the University of Utah. With my recent job "change" I kept thinking and talking about going back to school for my masters. The more I thought about it, the more it felt right and I began to get excited about the prospects and possibilities. My application is now submitted so, once accepted, I can start on the year of prerequisites I need before I can apply to and attend graduate school.

About a year from now, I'll hopefully be receiving acceptances to grad schools and will start the decision of where to attend and any other relevant decisions that may follow.

As for work, my plan is to focus mostly on school so a part-time job will be sought after to give me some additional/extra funds to supplement any loan money paying for school. Hopefully the acceptance process will go quickly so that I'll know the hours I'm available to work. The next immediate step is the student loan process and I'll attack that tomorrow.

Oh, boy, I hope I'm not in over my head with this one. If so, I suppose it won't be the first time or, sadly, the last.